Carol, who has two daughters and was married to Paul who died six years ago, said: "I'll miss the children most. There's something magical that happens when you've been teaching them something new and suddenly the penny drops.

"It's always been the same for me." Carol, whose office is plastered with pictures of Peter Pan crooner Cliff, said she knew from an early age she wanted to teach.

"I was the oldest of five children and my mum said I always used to boss my three brothers and sister about," she said.

Parents and teachers gave Carol top marks for the work she has put in at the school over the last ten years.

Parent Karen Mieczynski, aged 41, has two of her six children at the school.

She said: "Even when her husband died she was really brave and still came to work, plodding on through it. She's just done so much for the school and gets everybody moving."

Teacher Eileen Brown said: "Mrs Lyndon puts her heart and soul into her work and she cares."

School secretary Karen Wartnaby said: "She's always full of life and has never had a bad day. She's not one of these head teachers you find in the office all the time."

Lauren Cusack, aged eight, was one of the children who had never been to the seaside before.

She said: "I'll always remember this trip. I didn't think there'd be this much sand at the seaside."

Ryan Behan, aged nine, had never seen a beach either.

He said: "Mrs Lyndon is nice and kind. The trip was brilliant."

Naomi Harris, aged 11, said: "Mrs Lyndon's the best. I wouldn't swap her for any head teacher."

The trip was supported by donations. On the sunny beach, they had nearly all to themselves, the children paddled, threw frisbees and beach balls, took pictures of their classmates buried in sand and even splashed their head teacher.

Carol said: "Alot of these children have never been to the beach so it was lovely to take them there for the first time. When they saw it they went berserk.

"We had great fun and the kids just loved it."

Teacher Lesley Champken said: "They broke the mould the day they made Carol. She's one of a kind and will be missed. The school is not going to be the same without her."